The Hidden Danger of Victory in the 2024 Election
War against Pyrrhus of Epirus (280-275 B.C.) The war elephants of Phyrrus at the battle of Asculum, 279 B.C. (phyrric victory).
The Battle of Heraclea in 280 B.C. marks the first time in history that an invading Roman army was confronted with the ancient equivalent of modern-day tanks: battle-ready elephants. Twenty such elephants, each outfitted with a mini-fortress from which archers would rain down arrows, were deployed against the terrified Roman legionnaires during this battle. Even with their incredible advantage in numbers, the Romans were defeated by King Pyrrhus of Epirus.
A subsequent battle at Asculum, a Greek colony in what is now southern Italy, saw the Romans better prepared. This time, the Romans fought King Pyrrhus’s war elephants with javelins and long spikes attached to ox-drawn wagons. Besides injuring the elephants, the Romans hurled pots of fire to disorient them, making them unmanageable to their handlers.
Despite these efforts, King Pyrrhus defeated the Romans yet again. However, these two famous victories devastated Pyrrhus’ army. Roughly 70% of his fighting force, including his most elite soldiers and officers, had been killed. With no reinforcements and morale low, King Pyrrhus’s campaign against the Roman Empire would ultimately end in defeat.
These two battles gave us the term “pyrrhic victory” — defined as “a victory that is not worth winning because so much is lost to achieve it.”
Can it be that this momentous victory for Republicans in the 2024 election is in actuality yet another pyrrhic victory for Christians? The danger of this possibility exists. Allow me to explain.
Our Enemy Lives
Many Christians are still celebrating the results of the election, and rightfully so. The hard work of many of God’s obedient children contributed to this historic moment.
But our enemy yet lives. Our world still “lies in the power of evil.” We must not forget this. Like the Roman army after the Battle of Heraclea, the devil may have lost this most recent battle, but he has not surrendered, and he has not lost his confidence. The enemy knows there is still time to inflict harm on humanity. If he was clever enough to take a third of the angels into rebellion against God, how much more certain of success will he be in waging war against humans?
After an unexpected and significant victory, it is important to rejoice and take respite. But do not let that joy turn into the complacent thought that the battles remaining are for others to fight. The criminal enterprise of enslaving women and children for rape, torture, forced labor, and organ harvesting – a $245 billion dollar a year “business” – continues unabated; perversion and sexual confusion is still taught in our public schools to children of all ages; China’s unrestricted warfare tactic of flooding America with fentanyl still kills more than 70,000 Americans annually; and just weeks ago antisemitic mobs brutally attacked Jewish men and women in the streets of Amsterdam. The problem of man’s inhumanity to man was not — and will never be — solved by an election.
No Resting on Laurels
Scripture confirms that the devil’s plans will achieve a measure of fruition, since evil will intensify as Christ’s return draws near. In those days, “evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived,” and many will fall away from the faith by “giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” These verses make clear that though we have good reason to rejoice now, we need to prepare for the prophesied increase in evil that approaches.
The danger we face today is complacency. The Christian Church will ultimately have suffered a defeat in this election if the net result is God’s people believing that their duty is done and it is time to return to their “peacetime” pursuits.
To ensure that this does not turn into a pyrrhic victory, we must comply with “the first and greatest” commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” In other words, we must make God our “first love” and adjust our priorities accordingly.
In the same way that a mere hour of face time per week between spouses will fail to nurture a marriage, an hour of church attendance on Sunday will not build a close relationship with our Father in Heaven. To viscerally experience the presence of God, we must daily devote time to prayer and His Word. During these moments, the Holy Spirit will make clear where our service for His Kingdom should be rendered.
The Glory Is in the Fight
To return to our metaphor: Having twice suffered defeat, the Romans drew on their anger and resolved to win the next battle. They restored their diminished ranks from a ready flow of able-bodied soldiers. They strategized to kill and disorient King Pyrrhus’s war elephants at the outset of battle.
And so the Battle of Beneventum in 275 B.C. became the third and final meeting place of these two foes. The warrior king and his elephants were defeated, bested by the Romans’ superior preparations.
A greater number of Christian warriors will be needed for the spiritual battles that lie ahead. Do not let November 5, 2024 be the day that you worked the hardest in your life for the Kingdom of God. Let every breath you take from this day to your last day bring the glory of God to the earth. Do not be deceived into complacency. No politician can achieve what you were especially made by God to do.
There is a temptation to avert our eyes from the horrors wrought by evil in the world, but we cannot fight what we refuse to see. There is only one way to hold the line – to “stand firm” – until Jesus returns: donning “the full armor of God” and committing fully to serving Him. It is now imperative that each of us casts aside the ultimate false idol of self-glorification and instead “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” We must unrelentingly engage in the struggle “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the spiritual realms.”
We are earthly soldiers in “the armies of the Living God.” Our mandate is to “expose evil,” “bind” it on the earth and in the heavenly realms, and to “loose” God’s love, redemption, and righteousness through our discipleship of the nations. This is the central purpose of Jesus’s church. Our responsibilities as Christians do not end after Election Day; rather, they increase as the devil regroups.
No elephant, whether armor-clad in antiquity or today in Republican form, can vanquish evil as completely as God can. So then let us now unite with Him to beat back the darkness. Only God can direct our path to the ultimate victory of salvation.
Michele Le is a litigator who advocates for the strengthening of the Western Church. You can read her reflections on current political and social issues on the Substack: Of Serpents + Doves.